Convertible chair.



No. 775,387. PATENTED NOV. 22, 1904. E. L. THOMPSON.

CONVERTIBLE CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED mm: 16. 1904.

N0 MODEL.

Envewlbr. Elwin/Z. T 7107102980714 UNITED STATES Patented November 22, 1904.

ATENT @FFICE.

CONVERTIBLE CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 775,387, dated November 22, 1904.

Application filed June 15, 1904. Serial No. 212,628. tNo model.)

To (1, 1071/0112 it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELWIN L. Tnonrsox, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baldwinsville, county of 'orcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Convertible Chairs, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to convertible chairs of the type which comprises a combined high and low chair, readily convertible from one to the other; and it has for its object the production of a novel chair of such type which can be converted from a high chair to a low chair, either a carriage or a rocker, as desired.

In the present embodiment of my invention I have provided means whereby the chair may be locked in two different positions as a high chair that is, standing rigidly on its legs at two different elevations-and also in two low positions, the one as a carriage adapted to be rolled about on wheels. and the other as a rocker. Thus the one chair practically embodies four different chairs in one, and l have embodied therein novel and efliicient locking means to maintain the chair in any one of its several positions.

The various novel features of my invention will be fully described in the subjoined specilication,and particularly pointed out in the following claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a convertible chair embodying one form of my invention in its elevated position. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the chair when lowered to its position to form a wheel-chair or carriage. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the chair completely lowered to form a rocker. Fig. l is a back view of the chair in the elevatedposition shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged inner side elevation and partial section on the line 5 5, Fig.

l, of the means for locking the chair in the desired position.

The cross-legs r 7), serving to support the chair when elevated and longitudinally con vexed on their under edges at 11 V to form rockers when they are spread and the chair is lowered in the position shown in Fig. 3, the

transverse rounds u l), rigidly connecting the pairs of crossed legs, which are pivotal] y connected at 2, and the seat c of the chair-body C, having a base comprising rigid depending legs 0, secured to side bars 0', recessed at c" to receive the enlargements 3 of the inner cross-legs when the chair is lowered, may be and are all substantially as in United States Patent No. 677,382, granted to me July 2, 1901. As in said patent, the base is fulcrumed at on the upper ends of the cross-legs u by rigid metal straps 4, secured to the side bars N" of the base, and the latter is pivotally connected atil with links (7, pivoted to the cross-legs bat If.

1 have herein shown truck-wheels t if, pivotally mounted on the cross-legs a and 7/, respectively, at such a distance from their lower ends that when the chair is fully elevated or in its second elevated position the wheels will not rest upon the floor or other supportingsurt'ac'e, the chair then being firmly sustained upon the legs. \Vhen the chair is lowered into its third position, however, as shown in Fig. 2, the wheels rest upon the supportingsurface and the chair is converted into a carriage which can be rolled from place to place.

As shown in Fig. 3, when the chair is converted into a rocker the truck-wheels are held well up clear of the floor.

I have provided novel, strong, and very simple locking means to maintain the chair in desired position, said locking means being shown as upturned flat metal bars or latch members 0 g, 't'ulcrumed at their lower ends on the inner ends of the pivotal connections 2 of the cross-legs and rigidly connected at their upper ends by a cross-bar The latch members 1/ pass upward adjacent the inner faces of the side bars 0', the latter being located vertically above the inside cross-legs 7). Herein the latch members are shown as provided on their front edges with slanting notches 5, 5 6, and T, the former two being near the upper ends of said members, while the notches 6 are about midway between their upper and lower ends and the notches 7 are near their lower ends. A segmental tore-andat't guide-plate y is securely attached at its ends to the inner face of each side bar 1:, as

in the adjacent latch member to maintain the chair in the desired position.

When the stops are in the notches 5, the chair is maintained locked in its highest position, (shown in Figs. 1 and 4,) the latch members g transmitting the weight of the chairbody to the pivots 2, connecting the crosslegs, and the greater the weight on the chairbody the more firmly will the chair be locked in position.

The notches 5 when cooperating with the stops 9 hold the chair locked in a position intermediate that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but still as a high chair, the truck-wheels being clear of the floor.

When the chair is lowered to cause the stops to enter the notches 6, as in Fig. 2, the chair is locked in position as a carriage, the truckwheels then resting on the fioor, the weight being transmitted to the pivots 2 through the latch members g, as before.

If the chair is to be converted into a rocker, the stops 9 will enter the lowest notches 7, Fig. 3, and the side bars 0 rest upon the upper edges of the cross-legs I), as shown.

I have provided a convenient and readilyoperated releasing device for the locking means, shown as a rod pivotally connected at its forward end with the cross-bar g and extended upward and rearward through a guide g secured to the back of the seat 0, the rod having a knob or handle g on its upper end at the back of the chair-body. A strong spiral spring .9 is coiled around the rod 9 between the guide g and a pin 10 on the rod, the spring normally acting to push the latch members 9 forward against the stops 9. To disengage the latch members from the stops, the operator grasps the knob g and pulls the rod g outward, it sliding longitudinally in the guide 9 and pulling the latch members backward away from the stops, the spring 8 being compressed. The chair can then be lowered to the next set of notches or to any of the notches desired, the spring causing the latch members to swing forward against the stops the instant the knob is released.

The bottoms of the notches are substantially at right angles to the front edges of the latch members,while their tops are inclined, so that to elevate the chair it is only necessary to lift it, as the inclined tops of the notches then serve as cams over which the stops 9 slide, the spring 8 causing the latch members to snap into engagement with the next higher notches of the series. Inasmuch as I have provided a latch member at each side, there can be no twisting of the parts, and as said members are rigidly connected at their upper ends they move in unison into and out of cooperative engagement with their respective stops.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a chair of the class described, the vertically-adjustable body, its pivotally-connect ed cross-legs, a latch mounted to swing beneath the seat of the chair-body and on the pivotal connection or the legs between the upturned ends of the legs, means on the chair-body to cooperate with the latch and maintain the chair locked, and a manually-operated releasing device for the latch, separately mounted on the chair-body.

2. In a chair of the class described, the vertically-adjustable body, its pivotally-connected cross-legs, an upturned, swinging latch fulcrumed on the pivotal connection of the legs to swing beneath the seat of the chair-body and having a plurality of locking-notches, means on the chair body to cooperate with the notches and maintain the chair locked in different positions, and a manually-operated releasing device for the latch, mounted on the chair-body and connected with the latch.

3. In a chair of the class described, the vertically-adjustable body, its pivotally-connected cross-legs, an upturned, swinging latch fulcrumed on the pivotal connection of the legs to swing beneath the seat of the chair-body and having a plurality of locking-notches, means on the chair body to cooperate with the notches and maintain the chair locked in different positions, and a spring-controlled, longitudinally-movable releasing device for and connected with the latch and operative from the back of the chair-body.

4. In a chair of the class described, the vertically-adjustable body, its pivotally-connected cross-legs, an upturned, swinging latch fulcrumed on the pivotal connection of the legs and having a plurality of locking-notches, a fore and aft guide carried by the chair-body and through which the upper end of the latch passes, a transverse stop in the guide to engage with a notch of the latch and lock the chair in position, and a releasingdevice mounted on the chair-body and connected with the latch, to disengage the latter from the stop.

5. In a chair of the class described, the vertically-adjustable body having a rigid base, its pivotally-connectecl cross-legs, an Fl-shaped latch member fulcrumed at its lower ends on the leg-pivots to swing beneath the seat of the body, the upturned sides of said member having locking-notches therein, stops on the base of the chair body to cooperate with the notches, and a spring-controlled releasing clevice mounted on the chair-body and pivotally connected with the latch member, to disengage the notches thereof from the stops.

6. In a chair of the class described, the ver tically-adjustable body having a rigid base, its pivotally connected cross legs, an H- shaped latch member 'fulcrumed at its lower ends on the leg-pivots, the upturned sides of said member having locking-notches therein, fore and aft guides on the base, through Which the upturned notched sides of the latch member extend, stops crossing the guides to cooperate with the notches and maintain the chair locked in position, and a spring-controlled releasing device connected with said latch member and manually operative at the back of the chair-body.

7. In a convertible chair, pivoted cross-legs curved on their inner, under sides to form rockers when the chair is lowered, and transverse connection between opposite pairs of said legs, combined with a chair-seat having its rigid base t'ulcrumed on the upper ends of one pair of legs, links pivotally connecting the base with the upper ends of the other pair of legs, and a locking device for the chair comprising a member fulcrumed on the pivot of the cross-legs to swing beneath the seat of the body, a cooperating memberon the chairbase, and manually-operated means mounted on the body to release said locking device.

8. In a convertible chair, pivoted cross-legs curved on their inner, under sides to form rockers when the chair is lowered, and transverse connections between opposite pairs of said legs, combined with a chair-seat having its rigid base pivotally connected with the upper ends of the crossed legs, wheels on the crossed legs near their lower ends, upturned latch members fulcrumed on the pivotal connection between the legs and having a series of notches, guides for the said members mounti ed on the base and each having a transverse stop to cooperate with anotch, and manuallyoperated releasing means connected with the upper ends of and to move said latch members in unison to disengage the same from the stops, the chair being adapted to be lockedin raised position and in an intermediate position with the wheels supporting the chair.

9. Ina convertible chair, pivoted cross-legs curved on their inner, under sides to form rockers when the chair is lowered, and transverse connections between opposite pairs of said legs, combined with a chair-seat having its rigid base pivotally connected with the upper ends of the crossed legs, upturned, connected latch members notched on their front edges and fulcrumed on the pivotal connections between the legs to swing below the chair-seat, stops on the base to cooperate with the notches and lock the chair in any one of a plurality of positions, a longitudinally-movable releasing device mounted on and operative from the back of the chair and pivotally connected with said latch members, to disengage them from the stops, and a spring normally acting through the releasing device to maintain the latch members and stops in cooperation.

ln testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EIJVIN L. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

\V. P. ABBoT'r, WV. .P. HAwLnY. 

